Journalist İlnur Çevik wrote about the Iraqi central government's steps to re-establish dominance in Sinjar and the latest developments in the region for AA Analytics.
In Iraq, the government of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaydi started to take steps to re-establish dominance in the Sinjar district of Nineveh (Mosul) province and make its authority felt in this region.
In recent years, Sinjar has become the second stronghold of the terrorist organization PKK in Iraq after Qandil and has begun to be known as the "Second Qandil". Türkiye asked the Iraqi government to clear Sinjar from the PKK and signaled that it would conduct an operation to clear the region if this was not achieved. The region was under the control of Peshmerga forces affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) headed by Massoud Barzani for many years. In June 2014, ISIS forces suddenly captured Mosul. ISIS committed a major massacre and serious civilian casualties in the Sinjar district, where Yazidis, an ethnic and religious minority in Iraq, live in majority. Later, the United Nations (UN) accepted this incident as genocide. Following the entry of DAESH into the district and the withdrawal of Peshmerga forces from Sinjar on August 3, 2014, PKK settled in the region under the pretext of fighting against DAESH.
The process of Sinjar turning into the "second Qandil"
Thereupon, a militia force called Shengal Resistance Units (YBŞ) was established by the Yazidis with the support of the PKK. At that time, the Iraqi central government launched an operation to save the region from DAESH with the Hashd al-Shaabi force, which was established as the umbrella organization of Shiite militia groups. In this process, cooperation was established between Hashd al-Shaabi and YBŞ. With the air power support of the international coalition and the help of Peshmerga forces affiliated with the KDP, the 15-month-long occupation of ISIS's Sinjar was ended in November 2015. In that chaos, the PKK completely settled in Sinjar and took over the Yazidi resistance movement. Thus, the "second Kandil" was born. Although Türkiye carried out some operations in the region, the PKK continued its activity, while the KDP remained a spectator. PKK also used Sinjar as a window to Syria and a base to cooperate with its extensions in Syria.
Baghdad administration's new step and integration process
The start of the "Terror-free Türkiye" process, the throwing in the towel of the PKK's Syrian extension PYD, and the Syrian Kurds' decision to integrate into the Syrian army made Sinjar useless on behalf of the PKK. At that time, the process initiated in Iraq for non-state armed forces to join state forces continued with the withdrawal of US soldiers from the country by handing over all their bases in the country on September 30. In this process, the Baghdad administration agreed that YBŞ would lay down its arms and end its military activities in Sinjar, in line with the steps taken to control all armed groups.
In accordance with the agreement, the process of integrating approximately 4,300 male and female PKK militants and people in affiliated structures such as YBŞ, who meet the appropriate conditions, into the Iraqi army, Hashd al-Shaabi and the Ministry of Internal Affairs into the Iraqi federal security system has begun. Also in accordance with the agreement, Yazidis affiliated with the PKK began to leave the checkpoints and military facilities on Sinjar Mountain to the Iraqi army.
Those who see the glass half full say that this is a positive situation, that PKK elements will be integrated into society in the legitimate environment of the country they are in and will no longer be a threat to Turkey. Those who see the glass half empty argue that the PKK has not laid down its arms and will continue to dominate Sinjar by simply changing uniforms and integrating into the Iraqi army. Time will tell who will be right.
Türkiye, on the other hand, is pleased with these developments. The agreement reached between the Turkish and Iraqi governments at the summit held in New York to "fully establish state authority in Sinjar and clear out illegal elements" shows that the latest developments are progressing on a positive path.
Ankara wanted Sinjar to cease being a threat to Turkey and for the Iraqi government to establish state authority there. Therefore, with the support of Türkiye, the UN, the Iraqi central government and the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) signed the Sinjar Agreement in 2020, but no concrete steps were taken and the agreement remained only on paper.
However, the moves of the newly appointed Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, as a result of the pressure exerted by the USA, especially through Shiite militia groups, changed the situation. The policy of "weapons will only be under state control" was first met with resistance, but then gradually all militia forces began to accept being under state control and integrating into the Iraqi army. At this point, Yazidis are now a part of this process.
Why was KDP left out of the equation?
However, there are also those who are not happy with all this. KRG is completely disabled. While the PKK's Yazidis made an agreement with the central Baghdad government, the KRG remained dysfunctional.
KDP, led by Massoud Barzani, is not happy with this incident. Officials who are close to the KDP but wish to remain anonymous say that they have been excluded from the Sinjar issue, pushed out of the process, and that this has caused a loss of reputation.
In the Sinjar district, there used to be both a district governor appointed by the central Baghdad government and a Kurdish district governor appointed by the KDP. In the new regulation, the district governor of the KDP was abolished, leaving only the district governor of the central government.
As a result, the USA's withdrawal of its military presence from Iraq, the evacuation of military facilities in Erbil and the visible decrease in the importance they attach to the KRG deeply unsettle Kurdish politics. The developments in Sinjar and the KDP being left out of the equation were the spice of the matter. Similar steps will continue to be taken in the future.
